This page turner was almost impossible to put down. In fact, I found myself reading at points that I should have been doing other things, but really wanted to know what the next twist and turn was going to be. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the in-depth look into the human psyche, the action, and the unexpected ending. I also found the discussion of limiting human potential to be very thought-provoking. I enjoyed how the book started by giving you limited information on what was going on and then filled in the pieces bit by bit as has become the standard in this genre. Finally, I enjoyed the sophisticated writing.

This book reminds me of the game 'Super Mario Maker'. In this game, you get to build your own Mario levels. The temptation is to throw ALL THE THINGS in, because you get to build whatever you can imagine! Cool, right?
In actual fact, a level with everything plus the kitchen sink is actually pretty rubbish to play. It's too much.
I hope you see where I'm going with this analogy. A well crafted level picks a theme, and utilises a few well picked items to great effect.
This book is much like an overloaded level. It wants to be the COOLEST, most FANTASTICAL, book ever. It's got alternate humanities! Powers! Tech! Gods! Romance! Action! It purports to have it all, and misses on most counts.
What seems a very cool and interesting idea, that humanity is being 'diminshed' by outside agents of mysterious import, ends up feeling like a slapdash teenage attempt at writing a blend of sci-fi and fantasy and leaves me feeling unfulfilled.
The writing lacked depth and substance, and the characters were all two dimensional - I cared not a whit about any of them. Secondly, if there's gonna be cool powers, you have to give some sort of explanation and framework for how they work, why they work, etc. Otherwise it's just like saying MAGIC! as your every explanation. Much like throwing ten giant Bowers at poor old Mario.
Back to the drafts for this one.